“It’s a long story,” Kate said, that soft smile touching her pinks lips again.“But one I think we have time for.”
* * *
Rixavox tried to suppress a scowl as he strode further and further away from his mate.His Instinct yowled inside him, urging him to return to her side, to ensure her safety, to feel her touch.He could physically perceive the distance between them growing, an unsettling sensation and one he’d never encountered before.But Kat had ordered him to leave.And if he disrespected thelavrix’an, he disrespected Vaxa’an, his leader, his brother in war, and his friend.
Sometimes his duty clashed with his desires.He didn’t like it, but he accepted it, as any trained warrior would.
You will see her again soon, he reminded himself.Rixavox would escort her to the northern lands, his true home, where he felt most at peace with himself.He would take her there to help restore her health and strength.He would do everything in his power to win her over.He would not think of the possibility that when she was cured of her illness, she would choose to return to her home planet.For now, he would think of the immediate present.As a war general and Ambassador to his people, his strength lay in his ability to form and execute plans efficiently and effectively.In courting his mate, he would do the same.
The mating dance was like war.One either lost or won.One was either ravaged or victorious.
Rixavox would do everything in his power to ensure their outcome was the latter.
FIVE
“That…” Cecelia started to say, her lips parted, her gaze straying to Kate’s stomach for the millionth time.She licked her lips, struggling to process everything that the pretty, curvy brunette had just told her.“That’s…”
“Unbelievable?” Kate finished for her.
“I didn’t mean—”
“That’s okay,” Kate said.“Trust me, if I was in your shoes listening to my crazy story, I’d probably have the same exact look on my face too.”
“Just to get this straight,” Cecelia murmured slowly, rubbing her brow, “Vaxa won you in his fight at the Pit and took you here, where you’ve become his queen.And there’s this thing inside him, this force called an Instinct, that basically binds you two together as, as mates.And now you’re pregnant with his child?”
Kate let out a little chuckle and despite the insane situation Cecelia found herself in, laughing felt like the only response.
“Essentially, yes,” Kate confirmed.
“Okay,” Cecelia murmured, letting out a quick breath.“Okay.”
“I explained to Vaxa that his participation in the Pit was wrong.That was why Vaxa ordered a rescue mission for you and the others.You see, they value women.They believe that crimes against women are the worst crimes that a male could possibly commit.Even more so now.”
“Why now?” Cecelia questioned, her mind reeling from the influx of information.
“Because of the Plague.Their enemies, about ten years ago, or so I gathered, unleashed this virus into Luxiria’s atmosphere.Many of their women died.The rest were rendered infertile.”
She took in a sharp breath.
Kate looked down at her stomach and a sad smile crossed her features.“It was why Vaxa felt he had no choice but to participate in the Pit.He’d heard a rumor that humans were compatible breeding partners.He felt it was his duty as Prime Leader to try to save his race from dying out.It doesn’t make what he did right, but all the same, I’m glad he found me.And I’m glad that you were all taken from that horrible place, that they reached you in time before…”
Cecelia sobered.She’d tried to block out her experiences in the Pit.She hadn’t been there very long before they’d been rescued, but thinking about spending another moment in that dark, filthy room, as they waited to be led into that blazing hot arena, like cows for slaughter, made her feel sick to her stomach.
“So we can trust them?” Cecelia asked softly.“Because I’ll be honest…I haven’t exactly made up my mind yet.”
“They are trustworthy,” Kate said, serious.“You will not be mistreated here.And you will all return home if you wish, I promise.”
“If we wish?” Cecelia asked.“You think some of us will want to stay?”
Kate let out a soft breath and lifted her shoulders in a very human gesture, a very comforting one.“Vaxa gave me the choice to leave.I chose him.I chose to stay.Anything is possible.”
Cecelia went quiet, thinking over Kate’s words.For some reason, her mind flashed briefly to Rixavox, to that intense look on his face that had made her shiver with awareness.But awareness of what?
And why was she thinking about him?
“It’s quite amazing, isn’t it?” Cecelia said, with a small laugh that filled the room.“That this is all real, I mean.It is real, isn’t it?I’m not completely crazy?”
Kate leaned forward and placed a warm, soft hand on her forearm.“I can guarantee you, that your time here will be like nothing you could have imagined.”
